‘Pokémon Go’ updates have changed the way individual variations and movesets work in the game. Now that encounters vary greatly by level, it will be harder to snipe the best Pokémon. 'Pokémon Go' is available now on Android and iOS. Photo: Eduardo Woo

Pokémon Go server updates have fundamentally changed how the game’s individual variations and moveset systems work. While largely unconfirmed, the Silph Road subreddit says the new mechanics are intended to stop snipers that use GPS spoofers to find powerful monsters quickly around the world.

The simplest way to explain it is that now one’s trainer level impacts which moves and IVs Pokémon will have when met in a wild encounter. In other words, your level-28 friend might encounter an 89 percent maxed Dragonite while your level-34 friend may also get a Dragonite maxed to 4 percent based on their level. Higher-level players will also have access to more advanced movesets. This is similar to how a Pokémon’s maximum combat power increases proportionally with each level. The cap for the feature is apparently level 35. After passing that threshold, all encounters are the same.

From our perspective, the reason a change like this matters is because it greatly reduces the impact of snipers. Snipers typically have low-level accounts and use GPS-spoofing hacks to instantly spawn to the most powerful monsters. Since trainer encounters now depend on level, snipers will have to spend lots of time playing the game legitimately if they want to reap the benefits. In large part, it defeats the purpose of sniping altogether.

The Niantic support Twitter account has recently been teasing changes to eradicate the widespread use of hacks and cheats. This IV and moveset adjustment is by no means a fool-proof solution to every problem, but it’s a big step in the right direction.